The statement mentioned above was echoed even by the local Iranians who acutely criticised the reformist president over his intent to re-establish diplomatic engagement with the West (many considered him appeasing the West in times of war), prioritising a possible nuclear deal and ignoring their responsibility towards regional partners. Many argued

On one account, a former IRGC commander opined of senior military leadership echoing Syria and Iraq to be next after Lebanon, post-which a combined US-Israel invasion of Iran itself. On further enquiring about the sentiment, one former IRGC commander stated it to be isolated but echoed the sentiment to have been unanimously discussed and argued wit

remains a mystery even among former politico-military leadership within Tehran. The authors then conducted a series of interviews with former politico-military leaders to understand Tehran’s perception of the loss of Hezbollah/Hamas leadership, which collectively pointed towards Tehran’s reluctance to accept its significantly weakened position